52 A REPORTER AT LARGE T ABLOIDS called them "The Murder Trust," but to a care- less observer they were a group of scrubby-looking young men who used to meet at Tony Marino's. Ac- tually, they id possess distinction which merits a title of some kind. There was Tonv Marino himself, Dan Kreisberg, Harry Green, a taxi- driver; and Joe Murphy, formerly in the scientific line, but now acting as bartender for Tony. Then there was Frank Pasqua, who, although only . twenty-four, was already known as proprietor of what my social corres- ponden ts tell me were "the most lux- urious funeral parlors" on East 11 7 th Street. Two or three nationalities were rep- resented in the little coterie, and a]- though the oldest man of all-Kreis- berg-was oply twenty-nine, they had a variety of knowledge and experience. When they were together, intellect played upon intellect; one mind would strike another, as Bin t strikes against steel, and there was sure to be an inter- change of thought-of original, sug- gestive thought. Provocative-that's what it was. There was good talk at the old Mermaid Tavern, and there was conversation worth hearing at Tony Marino's in the evenings of last winter. Marino's speakeasy, at 3804 Third Avenue, was a quiet sort of place, where everything went along in the same old rut. Aside from the murder of a fellow called Tough Tony Bas- tone, nothing happened for a long time. Why he was murdered does not appear in the record of this case, and I doubt if we need go into it. If a man allows himself to be called Tough Tony, it is apt to incite some of his friends. "T oug h, are you? Well, are you tough enough to take that?" Perhaps the sombre and rather re- fined atmosphere of the speak was due to the loss of one of its bright figures -Betty Carlsen, the blonde sweet- heart of the proprietor. Some time last year-May, I be- lieve-Miss Carlsen died, and was buried in Washington. The medical examiner certified alcoholism and pneu- monia as the causes, and this is not disputed. However, if (as ill-natured Bronx gossip insists) the first of these was mere temporary insensibility, and if it was treated by stripping the pa- tient naked, leaving her in a room with ed. He was about forty, he had been a stationary fireman, but now he was merely stationary-at the bar. "He looks all in," mused Tony. "He ain't got much longer to go, anyhow. The stuff is gettin' him." The brethren listened with respect to this diagnosis of their leader, and their eyes brightened as they looked out from the back room. \70U see they were all specialists in their differ- ent ways. Tony was a general busi- ness executive, with advanced knowl- edge as to the difference between an ordinary souse and someone in the last stages of delirium tremens. Harry Green, the taxi-driver, had a good topographical knowledge of the region and could act as chief of transpor- tation. Murphy, who had formerly rated as a chemist and was now bar- MALLOY THE. MIGHTY all the windows open, and, further, throwing cold water over her, then the pneumonia was, as one might say, super- induced. It is further alleged that there was a prompt collection of $800 life insur- ance, which went to Marino or some of his colleagues. T IME flits fast in the Bronx, and things that happened back in the spring of 1932 are hopelessly lost in the mists of iniquity. Noone can say whether Betty Carlsen's death was the first of a series, or whether it belonged to a series at all. Old residents sit, these early autumn afternoons, in the pleasant surroundings of Crotona Park and refresh their eyes with the sight of the beds of scarlet cannas. But they re- fuse to discuss events prior to last De- cember. In that month, by every sign, there was an important conference at Tony's. The boys wanted to talk life insurance. l"'he subject has a perpetual fascina- tion. So long as in- surance companIes offer to bet hun- dreds, per haps thou- sands, of dollars that this man, or that, will not die, there are sure to be sports- men to arise and say, "We'll take some of that." The police, the district attorney, and a grand jury all assert that Tony's friends went into life irisurance in a very practical way. They further declare that admissions from most of the group have confirmed this. Peering about for a prospect, the as- sociates were delight- ed by Michael Mal- loy, an old customer of Tony's. His thirst was immense, but his buying ability limited, and he often had to wait late and long to be treat- f I 1/ ':, I, II / I ------...... ;' / t' I I I -m \ I (U D-c.J..<vv ;, // "; /'/ '" " "Century of Progress- Jones speaking."